This reflection is part of the 20 lessons included in the paper Lessons learned on promoting better links between research and policy in Latin America Lessons learned from the past can inspire us for the future. It is clear from what has been shared across our paper, that there are promising opportunities to continue working to strengthen the link between research and policy in developing countries, especially by fostering more South-South collaboration, being lean and flexib

This reflection is part of the 20 lessons included in the paper Lessons learned on promoting better links between research and policy in Latin America The fact that the SFE programme was regionally executed by a local partner such as CIPPEC was very frequently signaled by participants as an added value to most of its activities since discussions, materials, etc. had a clear seal of individuals who understood the real challenges faced by those who want to influence policy thro

The programme “Spaces for Engagement: using knowledge to improve public decisions” (SFE) is a six-year joint initiative by Global Development Network’s GDNet’s program and the CIPPECCenter for the Implementation of Public Polices promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC). Many of the lessons learned along these six years have been systematically reflected about in a Lessons learned paper, so as to improve our future work, as well as empower others who are walking or want to walk d

It is worth investing time in designing an integrated approach to capacity building (CB) which reflects your main principles in terms of profile of teachers, methodologies, type and origins of training materials, and how to build a relationship with those who benefit from the CB Our overall approach to CB has allowed us to continuously learn and enrich each CB activity. Briefly, it can be described as follows: It prioritizes motivated trainers from developing countries who ha

[Editor’s Note: This post was written by Natalia Aquilino, Director of the influence, Monitoring and Evaluation Programme at CIPPEC, with Leandro Echt’s collaboration.] Consensus regarding evaluation relevance as a transparency and accountability strategy is rising for Latin American think tanks. Evaluation initiatives are being triggered by programmes with strong regional presence such as the Think Tank Initiative as well as by a legitimate bottom-up need from the TTs themse

FUSADES is a private, non-profit development organization dedicated to the ongoing pursuit of the common good, centered on the human individual. Its strategy is based on promoting economic, social, political, legal and institutional public policy proposals to Salvadoran society. The organization has two centers of operation: the Research Center and the Development Center.The Research Center is a think tank, focused on thought and analysis. It develops research and oversight i

How often do we stop to reflect on how we are doing what we are doing well we are doing what we do? Not frequently, certainly not in today´s hectic and fast-pace world. When it comes to policy research and development we usually jump from one project to the other, from one activity to another, trying to strengthen links between them and take valuable information and people along. At the same time also feel frustrated if we feel that we are just following the flow of the river

As I wrote in a previous post, think tank’s directors need to deal with a huge diversity of issues: from budgetary choices, to communicational ones; from organizational engineering to staffing and leadership. Moreover, they are always interacting with a broad range of stakeholders, both at the internal and external “front”: donors, policy makers, political leaders, media, private sector, other colleagues; and the Board and staff. After some years holding such a demanding posi

Leading a think tank is not an easy task. Usually, these leaders need to make key decisions that involve a huge diversity of issues: from budgetary choices, to communicational ones; from organizational engineering to staff issues. Moreover, they have to deal with a broad range of stakeholders, both at the internal and external “fronts”: donors, policy makers, media, private sector, other colleagues; and the Board and staff. All these tasks require different characteristics, a

In the upcoming weeks we will start sharing some of the research currently being carried out as to develop our research agenda.  The objective of these documents is to build on two things: first, on our empirical understanding of the link between politics and ideas and second, our frameworks and models to capture the questions we have outlined in our research agenda. Adolfo Garcé from Uruguay is preparing a document that sheds light on the models used to compare the settings

I have been working on the design and delivery of capacity building workshops targeted at southern researchers over the past three years. As much as I believe in the effectiveness of such trainings and their positive impact on the way research findings are being communicated to policymakers, I always had concerns regarding their outreach as they usually are limited to a number of participants selected through partners in development (i.e. development studies institutes in dif

[Editor’s note: This Idea was shared by Laura Zommer, CIPPEC’s former Head of Communications and current Director of Chequeado.com] I was Director of communication at CIPPEC, a leading think tank in Latin America, for almost eight years. When I joined the organization, the area did not exist and, when I left last May, five people working full time and a couple of volunteers were part of the team. During that time I had many successes, but also countless mistakes, both of stra